Special Event

Martina Hingis Testifies in Florida Man's Stalking Trial

Aired April 2, 2001 - 11:49 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We take you live to Miami, Florida. This is where tennis Martina Hingis is on the stand. This is a criminal trial. A man named Dubravko Rajcevic is on trial for stalking Martina Hingis.

She's on the stand telling her story. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MARTINA HINGIS: ... he should stop calling for once and never start disturbing...

CHRIS CALKIN, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: How long did that telephone conversation last, between Dubravko Rajcevic and your mother?

HINGIS: My mom is much more clear than I am, so with her, you know right away where your standpoint is. So she would just tell him, you know, stop calling, stop doing this, and she would just hang up.

CALKIN: OK, now you said earlier that your mother was upset.

HINGIS: She was mad. She was getting angry.

FRANK ABRAMS, RAJCEVIC'S ATTORNEY: Objection, your honor.

JUDGE KEVIN EMAS, DADE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: Sustained.

CALKIN: How did you feel seeing your mother upset?

ABRAMS: Objection, your honor.

EMAS: Overruled. You can answer the question.

HINGIS: I was also getting frightened, because when my mom gets mad, she really lets everybody know she's not happy with the situation.

CALKIN: After your mother hang up -- hung up the phone with him that second time that he called, did you receive any other phone calls or phone messages from the defendant during the French Open?

HINGIS: Oh, yes. He would call basically on a daily basis, but we made clear to the hotel receptionist that we didn't want to accept -- we wouldn't accept any more phone calls from Dubravko Rajcevic. CALKIN: OK, so, as a result of this defendant's behavior and his phone calls to you, you had to tell the hotel front desk to hold your calls.

HINGIS: Yes.

CALKIN: OK.

Now, after the French Open, at the end of the June -- or excuse me, at the beginning of June, where did you -- where did you go after that tennis tournament?

HINGIS: I went home.

CALKIN: And where is home again, specifically?

HINGIS: I was in Zurich, Switzerland at that time.

CALKIN: Now, the French Open ended somewhere around June 6, 1999, correct?

HINGIS: Yes, that's correct.

CALKIN: And June 7th was a Monday. Do you remember returning to your home on June 7th -- Monday, June 7, 1999?

HINGIS: Yes, that's right.

CALKIN: And how long did you stay at your home in Zurich before you left for the next tournament?

HINGIS: I stayed for -- for a week or for five days. Five, six days before leaving for a tournament in England in Eastport.

CALKIN: And when you returned home to Zurich, did you have an opportunity to find out that the defendant had appeared at your home before you arrived from the French Open?

HINGIS: Yes, I knew that he was there.

CALKIN: You learned of that information?

HINGIS: I learned of that, yes.

CALKIN: And he had come to your home several times before you returned from the French Open?

ABRAMS: Objection.

EMAS: Sustained.

CALKIN: And how did that make you feel when you learned that he had been at your home while you were at the French Open?

HINGIS: Not at the French -- he was there after -- no, when I was there. CALKIN: OK, so he actually came to your home while you were there, during...

HINGIS: Yes, exactly.

CALKIN: ... when you came home on Monday the 7th?

HINGIS: Yes, yes.

CALKIN: OK.

HINGIS: During that week.

CALKIN: And you learned that he was coming to your home at that the time, during that week?

HINGIS: Yes. During that week.

CALKIN: How did you know that he was coming to your home?

HINGIS: Because I was there, and I had Natalie (ph), the lady who takes care of the house while we were there and Mario and my mom.

CALKIN: OK, and when you were at your home, how do you find out that he was standing outside?

HINGIS: Because he would keep ringing the bell, the door bell while I was practicing, while I was at home. He kept on telling, you know, Mario or Natalie to -- he asked them if I was home and he wanted to talk to me.

CALKIN: OK. What did you tell these people when you found out that he wanted to talk to you?

HINGIS: At first, I told him I was -- telling him, I am not home. I don't want to talk to him.

CALKIN: All right. Now, when he came to your home, you said that he would ring your door bell, continue to ring the door bell, and when somebody comes to your home, do they typically ring it only once?

HINGIS: Yes, it happens that they ring once and people, you know, tell them, you know, she's not home and just go, leave. Usually, it's like they want an autograph or signed ball or something and then they go on.

CALKIN: How many times did he ring the bell every time that he came to your house?

HINGIS: He wouldn't stop until someone would walk to the door, talk to him behind the gate, the iron gate and tell him I wasn't home or he couldn't speak to me. I don't want to talk him, and it was probably like three, four times per day when I was there.

CALKIN: Three our four times per day?

HINGIS: Yes.

CALKIN: For a period of at least five days, you said?

HINGIS: Yes.

CALKIN: As a matter of fact, he came to your house so many times that you actually had to go and see him in person, isn't that is right?

HINGIS: That's right.

CALKIN: And Mr. Rajcevic is sitting in the courtroom today?

HINGIS: Yes, he is.

CALKIN: Would you please identify him by an article of clothing?

HINGIS: He is wearing a black suit with a tie.

CALKIN: Is he to your left or right?

HINGIS: To my left.

CALKIN: Let the record reflect that the witness has indeed identified the defendant, your honor.

EMAS: Yes, the record will reflect that.

CALKIN: Explain how you came in contact -- into contact with the defendant when you finally went out to speak to him in person.

HINGIS: I was -- Mario would talk to him. At that the point, I was practicing, and I had to stop practice and Mario tell him -- told me to come out and see him so I'd tell him in person that I didn't want to have anything to do with him. You know, he should get out of my life. Stop ringing the bell, stop coming to my home and just leave me alone because he wouldn't believe Mario or my mom or anybody else to tell him just go away.

CALKIN: OK, just so that we're clear then, Mario actually went out to speak to him before you did?

HINGIS: Yes.

KAGAN: We have been listening to testimony from tennis star Martina Hingis. She is testifying in a trial, a stalking trial, a man accused of stalking her, Dubravko Rajcevic, accused of stalking here for well over a year. His defense attorney is defending him as a man's right to love a woman and pursue the object of his affection. More on that ahead.

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